


Abundance

by JustInkonPaper



Series: The Long Way Around [2]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-15 23:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8076304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustInkonPaper/pseuds/JustInkonPaper
Summary: Abundance. Noun. a very large quantity of something In the aftermath of the rift closing and Stan's disapperance, the town comes together for the sake of the Pines family. Sequal piece to Trace





	1. Abundance

The sky was blue with cotton clouds scattered throughout. There was a murmur of activity in a quaint yet odd little town named Gravity Falls that was nestled in the green and grand woods. People were out and about, inspecting the buildings for unnoticed damage from the recent hard rain. Though it is hard to believe that not too long ago, this had been the epicenter of Weirdmaggedon, an event that…no one really talks about since the law had been enacted. Now, the worst that the residents had to watch out for were incidents of wild gnomes migrating in from the Northern state of Washington. And beyond the concrete roads, there lay a dirt road snaking it’s way through the silent trees, cutting a path to a Shack at the very legal edges of the town’s residential area. This was where the heart of the resistance’s forces lived and where the beloved family Pines lives. In those woods, the Pines family and friends had destroyed Bill, sent back all the weirdness, and sealed the rift. They only had to pay a very steep price. 

The townsfolk were given at first a cleaned and sanitized version of the events: Grunkle Stan was gone, in the service of defeating Bill, and was never going to be found.

No one spoke of the struggle to hold Stan down, of watching as Ford, Dipper, and Mabel struggled with the precarious hold on their beloved family member. Of how they had defied gravity in order to reach out, to brush their finger on Stan’s boot before the brilliant white light had blinded them all. Of how bodies crashed to the soft soil, and only the sound of blood coursing through their ears was the first thing they heard. 

Even as Ford had scrambled to his feet first, yelling Stan’s name, he could only hear the sound of his own panic and how much he wished Stan would yell at him to keep it down. Dipper and Mabel drew themselves into a small quivering mass, eyes fixed on their distressed Great Uncle. Soos was up, as was Wendy, both of them rubbing their eyes and trying to orient the group to where they were in the forest. But no one, not one, wanted to acknowledge the grappling hook that lay embedded in the forest floor feet away from the stone statue of Bill Cipher. 

It took days of search parties, of late nights, and frayed nerves before the truth they knew all along sank in. During a particularly rough night of being mistaken for Stanley, Ford broke down and yelled out that he was Stanford Pines, the true Stanford Pines and he wasn’t the one they should be thanking. The man they had to be celebrating was Stanley Pines. True that the revelation of the Stan Twins took place in the middle of the rescue mission in the fearamid, but the town listened to this man that looked so much like Mr. Mystery. The man sobbed and pleaded that the town recognize that he was Stanford Pines, a man with 12 PhDs and a life filled with wrong choices! A selfish and arrogant man who had struggled and let slip through his fingers the hero this world needed. He was wrong to have trusted something so charming. He was the reason there had been a chance for Bill to enter into this world. He was the problem, so why couldn’t he have paid the price? Why? Why Stanley? Why wasn’t someone making him pay? _Please, make me pay for this! Please just hate me and get it over with,_ Ford pleaded. 

Dipper and Mabel wailed. They sobbed and cried. If Ford made mistakes, then they too played a large part in this whole thing. They needed to do something to bring Stan back because it wasn’t fair. It was their fault so why did Grunkle Stan be the one to be pulled into the Rift. They should have gone too! 

Finally, someone stepped forward. 

“He’s gone. Stanley Pines is _**gone**_. And it’s not your fault. He would never blame you for it.” 

The Pines family shattered. They broke, and they wallowed, and the townspeople where there to start picking up the pieces. 

The people of Gravity Falls were not the one who had sacrificed everything to take Bill down and they were not the family who has lost their whole world, but they would take on the burden of rebuilding the Shack and of mending this little family. The Pines would not be alone in this, and if it took lifetimes, the town would pay back tenfold what Stanley had done. It had been too much for a town that had taken Stanley Pine’s gruff exterior at face value. 

But as hard as it had been for people to look past his initial personality...

 _"Hadn’t Stan allowed kids to duck into the Mystery shack to avoid being found by bullies?"_

_"Hey, remember the time Stan had driven through town yelling at the top of his lungs about free(?) tours and it was just a ploy to get interest in the new exhibits? What a riot that tour was!"_

_"What about the time he nearly burned the forest down? Police tried to cite him for it but he managed to charm his way out of it! Man, I should have asked him for pointers."_

_"He was always trying to be the best house to visit on Summerween but the summer when he was dressed as the devil really did feel like the end of the world had come to Gravity Falls! He couldn’t get out from that ticket!"_

The exploits of the morally ambiguous yet charming Stanley Pines were shared as waves of people swept through the Mystery Shack with food, clothing, toiletries and patience. The Pines family would learn more through these stories than they had in the last couple of weeks they all had been together. Grunkle Stan saw the world in shades of grey but when it came to people, he was all colors and warmth. He hadn’t so dead inside like he had said before. 

The town changed as it cared for the Pines family and friends. Stanley’s presence permeated the town, coursing through like a gentle stream, winding through and filling the gaps and crevasses. It was subtle, in the way the people spoke, in the manners they took with the Pines family, in the humble statue that sat in the heart of the town, a spot where the founder of the town would stand. Ford hadn’t expected this at all. He had imagined his brother’s sacrifice charging through the town like a white water rapid in true Stanley Pines style. Maybe that would have been so if his brother had been here to see what effect he had on the town. And since he was gone…

 _No, not gone,_ Ford reminded himself and the kids. He had just decided to take up residence in the entirety of Gravity Falls. This was the town Stanley helped rebuild. He had been what sealed the rift permanently, a barrier between what lived in the nightmare realm and the world. In this little town and the people, he lived on. 

Mabel and Dipper’s birthday finally arrived, the Shack having been transformed into a refuge for those who played a part in the Cipher Zodiac; a place where they all could rest, where they planned for the future, and celebrate the beginning of the twins’ teenage years. 

“To Dipper and Mabel!” The town cheered. 

“And to Grunkle Stan!” Dipper and Mabel raised a slice of cake. “Our hero!” 

Stanford looked on with misty eyes. They will take it one day at a time. One step at a time. In this little town called Gravity Falls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a continuation of what I started with _Trace_. Sometimes, a thought will invade your mind and you need to act on it before your lose your mind. Working on the second part of this work. Will be short and sweet.
> 
> PS: If you want to end on a bittersweet note, I would stop here with this chapter. If you move forward, it sets things up for something different.


	2. Excess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Excess _Adjective_ **more than is needed; extra**
> 
> Sometimes, you just need a little more...

The last of the rebuilding had finished. Now the basement held fond, warm memories instead of cold regret. It stood more of a museum than an actual workspace. The last sound was lively chatter about promises to keep in touch, to keep no more secrets, and the resolute click of a door. There was only darkness, the liveliness from before an echo. 

And then, a faint glow. A small blue light appeared on a machine thought dormant since Ford stepped through the portal home. It lay on its side on a set of shelves right above Ford’s work desk. How often this little tool had saved Ford. How often it had given him that resolve to try just once more. 

It pulsed and numbers flashed on a compact screen. As the last digit locked in place, the machine let out a tone. It beeped and beeped, despite no one being around to hear it. At long last, as it neared the edge of the shelf, the light dimmed and the display faded. The numbers vanished and the basement was once more plunged into darkness. Slowly, the beep wound down until silence filled the basement once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Take a guess what all of this means.


End file.
